Flexible sole



Nov.8,1938. MER ITT" 2,135,725

FLEXIBLE SOLE Filed Sept. 5, 1935 Patented Nov. 8, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FLEXIBLE SOLE Application September 5, 1935, Serial No. 39,316

1 Claim.

This invention relates to soles rendered flexible in a high degree by cutting gashes therein. In certain types of shoes a relatively high degree of flexibility in the ball areas is commonly obtained by cutting gashes in those areas of the insoles before the component parts of the shoes are assembled on lasts. It has been found, however, that as to insoles fabricated from fibrous pulp, peeling of the surface stock commonly occurs as a result of cutting intersecting gashes as when some of the gashes extend lengthwise and others extend crosswise of a sole.

In view of these conditions an object of the invention is to provide a sole the flexibility of which has been increased both lengthwise and crosswise without depriving the gashed surfaces of their ability to prevent peeling.

As herein shown, this problem is solved by cutting individual gashes in angular but non-intersecting relation in one face of a sole. Since no gash adjoins another gash the portions of the gashed surface that are incompletely bounded by the gashes remain connected by uncut portions sufficient in number and so distributed as to guard against peeling. While these uncut connecting portions may not be actually necessary in leather soles they have no objectionable effect in them.

In my divisional application, Serial No. 117,548, filed December 24, 1936, is disclosed and claimed a machine which may be used to advantage in making the improved sole which constitutes the subject-matter of the present application.

Other features of the invention are hereinafter described and claimed, and are illustrated in the drawing, of which Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation indicated by line IIII of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective View of the essential elements; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective View of a sole that has been flexed by cutters organized as shown in Fig. 3.

Referring to the specimen of work illustrated in Fig. 4, the insole It! has been flexed in the ball area by cutting a series of long, parallel, transverse gashes H side by side in one face thereof and rows or columns of short individual gashes 12 between the long gashes H and in angular relation thereto but not intersecting them. The transverse gashes I! extend from edge to edge of the sole and increase its flexibility in one direction, while the gashes l2 increase the flexibility of the gashed area in a different direction. Since no two gashes intersect, each subdivision of the gashed surface remains connected with the adjacent subdivision at four points, except those subdivisions that lie at the margins of the sole.

These connecting portions, while not of sufficient magnitude to affect the flexibility of the sole to a noticeable degree, are nevertheless sufficient to guard against peeling of the surface from a sole fabricated from fibrous pulp.

The machine illustrated in the other figures is designed to gash a sole in the manner shown in Fig. 4. All the gashing cutters are incorporated into a rotary driven assemblage comprising the following elements:a shaft [4, a series of thin flat cutting disks l5, steel rings l6 interposed between the disks [5, and sleeves I1, [1 arranged to clamp the disks [5 and the rings l6 one against another with'suflicient pressure to prevent them from slipping. Each ring [6 is provided with a circular series of cutting teeth IS the outer edges of which are sharpened to provide cutting edges. The rings iii are preferably assembled to locate the teeth l8 of each out of register with those of the next ring, to the end that the short gashes l2 in the work will break joint. The margins of both faces of each disk [5 are beveled to provide a sharp circular cutting edge. This double beveling provides narrow gaps between the circular cutting edges and the cutting teeth l8. Consequently, no two gashes cut by this assemblage will intersect each other. All the cutting edges preferably lie in the surface of a cylinder.

The above-described assemblage of cutters is cooperatively related to a non-resilient cutting bed or platen 20 preferably arranged above it and preferably in the form of a cylinder. Its ends are reduced to provide trunnions of smaller diameter and are journaled in bearings, one of which is indicated at 22 in Fig. 2. These bearings are carried by adjustable arms 23 to which they are connected by horizontal trunnions 24 that provide for self-aligning movement. The arms 23 are connected to the main frame 25 by pivot-pins 26 at the rear, and their forward ends are arranged to be depressed by adjusting screws 21 which may be provided with hand-wheels 28. Bosses formed on the arms 23 are arranged to bear on abutments 29, such as screws screwed into the frame 25. By means of the screws 21 and 29 the platen 20 may be positively set at any desired distance from the cutting assemblage in accordance with the thickness of the work to be gashed or the desired depth of the gashes.

To facilitate adjusting the screws 29, the screws 21 are mounted in U-shaped coupling links 30, the lower ends of which are connected to the frame 25 by pivot-pins 3|. When the screws 21 are relaxed the links 30 may be swung forwardly and downwardly to release the arms 23 which may then be swung upwardly and to the rear to uncover the screws 29 and to afford access to them from above.

The shaft l4 of the cutter assemblage is journaled in bearings mortised into the frame 25, one of these bearings being indicated at 32 in Fig. 2. These bearings are secured in the frame by screws 33. A pulley 34 (Fig. 1) is affixed to the shaft l4 to receive rotation from a driving belt not shown. If it is desired also to drive the platen 20 one trunnion thereof may be provided with a spur gear 36 to receive rotation from similar gear 35 afiixed to'the shaft 14.;

A work-supporting table 40 is affixed to the frame 25 in front of the cutter assemblage at or slightly below the level of the space between that assemblage and the platen, and a corresponding table 4! also secured to the frame is arranged at the rear of the cutter assemblage to receive the articles of work that pass between the cutter assemblage and the platen. Moreover, a stripper plate 42 mortised into the table 4! and afiixed to the frame 25 is provided with a series of stripping fingers 43 arranged to strip the work from the cutters. To permit the intermediate finger 43 to project between two of the cuttin disks l5, the necessary space between these two disks is provided by a spacingring not having any cutting teeth.-

A gage 44 for locating a sole in the desired relation to the cutting assemblageis arranged on the front table 40.

To provide for adjusting this gage lengthwise of the axis of the cutter assemblage the gage is provided with a stem 45 that extends through a bore in a boss 46 formed on the frame 25. This boss is also bored and tapped with a screw-thread to receive a set-screw 41 by which the stem 45 driven to feed the sole from front to rear.

cutting teeth I8 exercise a positive feeding effect may be secured in any desired position of adjustment.

To flex a sole in the manner illustrated in Fig. 4, the sole is laid on the front table 40 with its toe end against the gage 44 as represented in Fig. 3, the length of the sole being approximately parallel with the axis of the cutter-shaft l4. The operator feeds the sole widthwise only so far as to carry its leading edge into contact with the platen and the cutter assemblage which are The and insure that the sole will be stripped from the cutters by the fingers 43 and deposited on driving the platen 20 as well as the cutter assemblage, it is not essential that the platen be driven, since the driving force of the cutter assemblage alone is suflicient to feed the work and insure stripping it from the cutters. Moreover, although the cutting edges of the teeth I8 are shown-as arranged to cut the gashes l2 at right angles to the gashes II the invention is not limited to this right-angular relation, since the cutting teeth l8 may, if desired, be skewed to cut the gashes I! in oblique relation to the gashes I I.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

A sole, one surface of which is provided with relatively long individual linear gashes in sideby-side relation and with rows of relatively short individual linear gashes between and in angular relation to said long gashes, each of said short gashes extending close to but terminating short of thelong gashes between which the short gashes lie to leave passages of unbroken continuity connecting the areas included between the short gashes.

FRANK R. MERRITT. 

